Final answer:
The statement 'Natural selection does NOT happen through mutations' is false. Mutations are a key source of genetic variation that natural selection operates on, enabling adaptations that confer survival and reproductive advantages. Therefore given statement is false.
Step-by-step explanation:
An organism's traits that make it more likely to survive and reproduce in its environment are called adaptations. These traits are the result of the process of natural selection, which is the mechanism by which evolution occurs. Natural selection acts on the variation in inherited traits within a population, and individuals with traits that offer a survival or reproductive advantage are more likely to pass on these traits to their offspring.
False. The statement 'Natural selection does NOT happen through mutations' is incorrect. Mutations are one of the primary sources of genetic variation upon which natural selection acts. Without genetic variation, such as that introduced by mutations, there would be no differential survival and reproduction for natural selection to work on. Mutations can be beneficial, neutral, or harmful, and only those that confer a reproductive or survival advantage are likely to be passed on and become more common in a population.
As an example, the giraffe's long neck, a trait that allows it to access food resources higher in the trees, is a result of natural selection favoring those giraffes that could forage in areas that others could not.